A heat wave with planned temperatures of up to 40 degree Calcius has forced the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul to cancel the return to classrooms on Monday in public schools, the local government reported. The Ministry of Education announced in a statement that “in compliance with the decision of the Court of Justice of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, there will be no classes in the 2,320 schools of the state network this Monday.” This decision affects approximately 700,000 students.
The Court ruled in favor of the claim of the Educators Union of Rio Grande do Sul, who asked to postpone the return to the classrooms after the holidays until February 17. The teachers claimed that they could not teach due to the “lack of adequate ventilation and sufficient water sources” in schools, considering the strong temperatures planned for this week. The union of teachers stated on their social media account, “This is a fundamental victory for the safety and well-being of the entire school community,” and warned about a “worrying scenario” of schools without infrastructure against heat.
According to the weather authority’s forecast, thermometers will reach 40 oC in some parts of the state, prompting a red alert due to high temperatures inside Rio Grande do Sul and an orange alert for the coast. The Rio Grande do Sul Governorate appealed the decision of the court and will seek to have the resumption of classes occur before February 17. The Ministry of Education explained that “the local government is building a resilient school model, adaptable to climatic changes, with adjustments in school infrastructure.”
The suspension of classes took parents of students by surprise, according to local media. A parent, Paulo de Lima Santos, 50, told the newspaper ‘Gaúcho’ in Porto Alegre, “He had not been informed. The school could have a WhatsApp group to warn this kind of thing,” he complained. Temperatures are expected to drop from Thursday, according to the weather forecast.
In recent years, Brazil has been severely affected by extreme climatic events linked to global warming, according to experts. In 2024, historical floods resulted in the loss of at least a hundred lives and strongly impacted the economy of the rich agricultural state. The source of this information is the AFP news agency.